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BY 

NORMAN HINSDALE PITMAN 


A Chinese Christmas Tree 

Illustrated by Liu Hsing-p’u 
12 mo. Boards, net 50c. 

Here is a Christmas story that is 
“different" — scenes laid in China, 
real Chinese children romping through 
its chapters, and illustrated with 
quaint pictures drawn by a real Chinese 
artist. Those who gratefully remem- 
ber the author’s fine story The Lady 
Elect, will not be surprised to find 
a vein of mellow wisdom, tempered 
with warm, glowing sunshine. 

The Lady Elect 

A Chinese Romance, Illustrated by Chinese 
Artists. 12mo, cloth, net $1.25 

“ Have read with absorbing inter- 
est. I found it true to Chinese ideas 
— not exaggerated. It exhibits the 
character of Chinese people and 
brings out a human element which 
I have never found in any other book 
on China " — Prof. Isaac Taylor 
Headland. 





Soon the Christmas tree was standing up again as it had in the 

grove {see p. 62) 


Chinese Christmas Tree 


BY 

NORMAN HINSDALE PITMAN 

;/ 

AUTHOR OF 

“The Lady Elect,” Etc. 


Illustrated by 

LIU HSING-P’U 



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New York 

Chicago 

Toronto 

Fleming H. 

Revell 

Company 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Lo-lo and Ta-ta . 

• • 

• « 

II 

How Lo-lo Got Sick . 

• • 

• • 

14 

The Foreign Doctor 

• • 

• « 

20 

Foreign Medicine 

• • 

• • 

25 

Lo-lo’s Wish 

• • 


29 

Making Plans . 

• • 

• • 

32 

At School 

• • 

• 

37 

Lo-lo Excited . 

• • 

• • 

45 

The Nodding Tiger 

• • 


49 

Ta-ta’s Accident 

• • 

• • 

53 

Cutting the Tree 

• • 

• • 

60 

Setting up the Tree 

• • 

• • 

64 

Christmas Eve 

• • 


68 

Christmas Morning . 

• • 

• • 

72 

The Silver Watch 

• • 

• ♦ 

79 


7 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 


Opposite Page 

Soon the Christmas Tree was Standing up 
AGAIN AS IT HAD IN THE Grove . . Frontispiece 

LO-LO ASKED HER FOR A StORY . . . . lO 

Being Sick was Better than Seeing the Great 
Dragon 19 

The Shuttlecock Ball was Made of Snake’s 
Skin and was Very Hard .... 36 

In a High-pitched Voice He Went through to 
THE End of the Lesson 44 

The Sun was Just Setting as They Started 
Home 59 

Listen! Little Ones, I am Santa Claus” . 71 

The Good-bye .•••••. 78 


9 





J 

Lo4o asked her for a story 






I 


LO-LO AND TA‘TA 

‘‘Yes, and it was a real sure-enough tree,” 
said Lo-Lo, “and there were different kinds 
of pretty things hanging on the branches, 
enough for all the children in the village. 
Grandma said she saw it with her own eyes.” 

“But what did those foreign children want 
with a tree? Why didn’t they put all those 
things on the table or on the bed ?” asked Ta-ta, 
his eyes big with wonder. 

The two boys were sitting on a big brick bed 
in Lo-lo’s house. It had been more than three 
years since the time when they were lost in 
the wheat field, and they felt much older now 
and wiser. Another change had taken place. 
Lo-lo was no longer a poor boy. The family 
had moved out of the little one-room house 
into a big stone dwelling with many rooms 
and ever so many queer little courts and out- 
houses. There were several servants too and 
a horse, and a two-wheeled cart. But al- 
though Lo-lo was rich and Ta-ta poor, they 
were still as good friends as ever. 


11 


12 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


‘‘Why, you see,*’ said Lo-lo, answering 
Ta-ta’s question, “these children from over 
the ocean never do things the same way we 
do. Papa says when they go out skating they 
have skates on both feet instead of only one.” 

“My! what fun it would be to see them.” 

“Yes, and everything else they do is queer. 
So it isn’t so strange after all if they bring 
a real tree into the house and put presents on 
it.” 

“No indeed,” replied Ta-ta, “I think that 
would be lots of fun.” 

“Yes, and — but here’s papa. I hear him 
talking to old Wu.” 

Lo-lo’s father entered and Lo-lo got down 
on his knees and bowed his head to the floor. 
It was the first time he had seen his father 
since morning and he had been taught to be 
very polite to his elders. 

“Well, my son, what were you and Ta-ta 
talking about when I came in? I doubt if it 
was about your lessons.” 

“Oh, no, it wasn’t about our books, but 
about the little foreign children and their funny 
ways.” 

“Why, what do you know about foreign 
children?” his father asked, laughing. “Have 
you been reading about them in your book?” 

“Oh, no, it’s what grandma told us about 


LO-LO AND TA-TA 


13 


when she was little, about seeing them take 
a tree into the house in the winter time, and 
about their putting presents on it for all their 
friends/' 

‘‘Nonsense, nonsense!” said the father, 
laughing again in spite of himself. 

“But we want to go and see a tree like that, 
and sing songs together,” pleaded Lo-lo. “Why 
is it nonsense if you have nice things to eat 
and toys?” 

“What ! go among the foreigners ? Not you. 
Don’t you know about those people from over 
the sea? They are not like us. No indeed. 
You’ll surely come to grief if you go running 
after them.” 

“Yes, but I want to,” pouted Lo-lo. 
“Grandma said she did when she was little, 
and she’s never come to grief. She’s almost 
sixty now and has never even had a toothache 
in all her life.” 

“That’s true,” replied Mr. Chang, “but you 
must remember you are not your grandma, 
and what’s more, you never will be.” 


II 


HOW LO-LO GOT SICK 

Next day Lo-lo, Ta-ta, and many other boys 
were skating on the little pond in front of the 
schoolhouse. Each boy had a small piece of 
smooth hard wood under one foot, while with 
the other foot he pushed himself along. Faster 
and faster they went skimming over the ice. 

Once Ta-ta’s foot slipped off the wooden 
skate and he went tumbling head over heels. 
Thud ! went his head on the hard ice. All the 
other children laughed and shouted in their 
glee. “See ! he’s trying to skate on his head,” 
they cried. “Hey! Ta-ta, better get up or 
you’ll freeze to the pond.” 

Then they played games and were having 
the best kind of time when, all of a sudden, no 
one knew just how it happened, there came a 
loud cracking sound, and four of the children 
found themselves in the water. All scrambled 
out quickly except Lo-lo. He reached the shore, 
dripping wet and shivering with cold. 

“See! Lo-lo’s crazier than Ta-ta. He tries 
to swim in the winter time,” shouted one boy 
who had escaped without a wetting. 


14 


HOW LO-LO GOT SICK 15 

Lo-lo felt like crying, but he kept back the 
tears. 

“Huh!” he answered, “didn’t you ever get 
ice water on you ? Why, my grandma says the 
foreign children drink it instead of tea.” 

But very soon Lo-lo’s teeth began to chatter 
and he had to run home as fast as his legs 
would carry him. He didn’t like to worry his 
mother about his troubles, so he climbed up 
on the warm bed and said nothing about the 
accident. Below, the fire was burning brightly. 
The bed was very comfortable and he soon for- 
got his wet clothes. 

Supper time came and went. Then, sitting 
up close to his grandmother, Lo-lo asked her 
for a story. In response to this the old lady 
began : 

“Once there was a very bad boy. He was so 
bad that no one loved him but his mother. Of 
course she was very fond of him, and, I am 
glad to say that, bad as he was, he loved her 
very much and tried to be good to her. 

“One night after he had grown to be a young 
man he did not come home to his supper. At 
first his mother did not worry about him, for 
they were very poor and he would not lose 
much if he missed his supper. Then, too, 
there were several places where she thought 
he might be. Bed time came and still her 


le A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


son did not return. The poor woman lay 
awake all night wondering what could have 
happened to her boy. She was afraid that 
he had been doing some mischief and perhaps 
had got into trouble over it. 

''At last she heard a step outside, and soon 
the door was pushed open. 

" ‘See what I have, mother,’ cried the son, 
entering. He held up a big iron kettle — the 
kind old Wu uses for cooking rice. 

"His mother knew well enough that he had 
stolen it, and she gave him a good scolding. 
‘Don’t you know that those poor people can’t 
get on without a kettle? How will they cook 
their millet? Oh, my boy, my boy, why did 
you steal it? Don’t you know better than to 
be a common thief?’ 

" 'But, mother, I can sell it and get money. 
We are poor. Yesterday we had nothing to eat 
but yellow millet. To-day we shall have good 
rice.’ 

" ‘Not a mouthful of your rice will I taste, 
for it would be bitter to the taste and would 
turn sour in my stomach. No stolen food for 
me.’ 

" 'But what shall I do with the kettle, mother, 
now that I have it?’ 

" 'Take it back.’ 


HOW^ LO-LO GOT SICK IT 

*It is already daylight. They would be 
sure to catch me and beat me for stealing.^ 

‘‘ ‘Listen, my son, if you will take the kettle 
back, I feel sure that the sky will grow dark 
enough so that you will not be seen.’ 

“Now, as I told you, the boy loved his mother. 
So he took the kettle back to the house from 
which he had stolen it.” 

“And did the sky grow dark?” questioned 
Lo-lo, breathlessly. 

“Yes indeed, the sun was darkened by a 
great shadow. The boy dropped the kettle 
over the wall and started back full tilt for 
home without being seen once by the people he 
feared would catch him.” 

“But what made the sun grow dark?” asked 
Lo-lo. 

“Oh, that’s too long a story to tell now, little 
one,” she said, smiling. “Some people say 
that the sun and the moon were running around 
a hill, one from one side and one from the 
other. First thing they knew, they had but- 
ted their heads into each other, smash! And 
then the whole world was dark for an hour.” 

“Do you know what happened to the boy?” 

“Yes, they say that long afterwards he was 
made the God of Thieves and went away up 
into the sky to live. Now if people want to 


18 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


grow rich, traders and others, they go out-of- 
doors on his birthday and worship him/’ 

“Is that the way papa made his money?” 
asked the boy gravely, looking up into the old 
woman’s face. 

“You’d better ask your father about that, 
Lo-lo. He knows better than his mother.” 
Her eyes twinkled, and he thought she was 
going to laugh. 

Just then the boy began to cough, and his 
grandmother discovered that his clothes were 
damp. Soon she found out all that had hap- 
pened at the pond. 

“Better go to bed at once,” she told him. 
“Get off these wet things, else you’ll catch 
your death.” 

“Nonsense, mother,” said Mr. Chang, who 
had come in just in time to hear her last words 
to Lo-lo. “Nonsense! Don’t you know the 
old saying is, 'If you wish your children to 
have a quiet life, let them always be a little 
hungry and a little cold.’ ” 

“That wasn’t what I thought when you were 
a boy,” answered Grandmother Chang, “and 
I don’t believe it’s true now.” 

But Lo-lo went to bed willingly. He always 
obeyed his grandmother, for wasn’t she the 
mother of his own father, and don’t mothers 
always know more than their sons ? 


f 



Being sick was better than seeing the great dragon 


« > 



1 


« • 




Ill 


THE FOREIGN DOCTOR 

Next morning Lo-lo woke up with a dull 
pain in his head and a loud, hacking cough. He 
did not feel like rising and they could not coax 
him to taste even a morsel of his breakfast. 

'That’s what comes of skating on the ice,” 
said his grandmother. "Now you are in for a 
spell of sickness.” 

And she was right about it. His head grew 
hotter and hotter, and his cough louder and 
louder. Two days passed and still there was 
no sign of a change. At last even Mr. Chang 
grew worried. 

Grandmother Chang brought out her book 
of children’s sicknesses. "Let’s see,” said she, 
"Lo-lo broke through the ice day before yester- 
day at five o’clock. That was the Eleventh 
Moon, the tenth day. Ah, here it is in the 
book, 'Eleventh Moon, tenth day.’ Now, we 
shall soon find out what to do.” 

"Nonsense, mother! That silly book is good 
for nothing. If the boy is really sick, I say 
let’s call in a doctor, not one of our old-fash- 
ioned Chinese friends who might punch a hole 


20 


THE FOREIGN DOCTOR 


21 

in his head with a needle to let out the pain or 
give him a dose of snakeskin oil mixed with 
ground oyster-shell. No, not that kind. We’ll 
call in a young Chinese who has been to school, 
or, how would it do to try one of those foreign 
doctors and see if he can’t cure Lo-lo? What- 
ever faults those sea-people have, they know 
how to cure sickness. You remember how that 
old blind man was cured, and now he can see 
as well as you or I.” 

‘‘All right, call in the foreign doctor, if 
you like,” said Grandmother Chang, secretly 
pleased. “I never have thought they were so 
bad as people say they are.” 

“Yes, call him in,” said Lo-lo’s mother. 

So Mr. Chang sent word to the big foreign 
hospital in a near-by village, asking for the 
doctor to come and see Lo-lo. 

When Lo-lo heard them talking about send- 
ing for a foreign doctor, he began to feel bet- 
ter already, for he really was not very sick, 
and thinking about the white people made him 
forget the pain in his head. 

He had always wanted to see more of the 
foreigners. Ever since the day when he had 
seen an American on the street and had talked 
with him for a minute, he had wanted to have 
another chance. And now he was going to 
have his wish. A real foreign doctor would 


22 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


come to see him, once, maybe twice, and would 
talk to him. It was almost too good to believe. 

He began to wonder what this strange man 
would look like, whether he would have a 
beard, as the older men in China do, or whether 
his face would be clean and white. Would 
he wear Chinese clothes, as some of the white 
men did, or the clothes of his own country? 
Would his finger nails be short, or long and 
sharp like a Chinaman’s? What kind of hat 
would he wear, and would he take it off in 
the house? And above all, would he know 
how to talk? 

Lo-lo asked himself these and many other 
questions as he lay waiting. My ! but wouldn’t 
he have strange things to tell Ta-ta and the 
others! They would stand around in wonder 
at his story. After all, it was not so bad to 
be sick for a few days if his father would al- 
ways call in a white man doctor. It was bet- 
ter than going to the Punch and Judy show or 
seeing the great dragon carried through the 
streets at the holiday season. It must be even 
better than a visit to the wonderful Zoo at 
Peking, the one the teacher had told the chil- 
dren about at school. 

Just then his heart almost stopped beating, 
for he heard a strange voice in the next room. 
^‘Where is the little boy?” it said. 


THE FOREIGN DOCTOR 


‘‘Oh, here he is,” said Grandmother Chang. 

Then the door opened, and in walked the 
foreign doctor. It was not a man at all, but a 
very tall woman with a very high hat. 

She came in and sat down beside his bed, 
and took his hand in hers. “Ah, the poor little 
fellow has a fever and such a deep cough. 
How long has he been ill?” 

Grandmother Chang told about the skating 
party and the breaking of the ice. 

“No wonder he is ill,” said the young lady, 
“but it is nothing very bad, and he will soon 
be up again. If you had waited much longer 
though, I am not so sure about it. These 
deep colds in the throat sometimes change into” 
— and then she gave a strange name that Lo-lo 
had never heard. 

He stared at her in big-eyed surprise. 

“Is this the first time you have ever seen one 
of us?” she asked him with a merry laugh. 
“It’s as good as going to a show, isn’t it?” 

“Oh, no,” gravely, “you aren’t the first one, 
only the other was a man.” 

“Where did you see this man?” she ques- 
tioned. 

Then he told her about hearing a stranger 
talking to the people, and how the man had 
given him a piece of foreign candy. 

“Are you the boy who asked him what his 


24 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 

pockets were for?’' asked the lady, laughing. 
'That was my father, and he hasn’t forgotten 
you yet. Why, I have known you a long 
while, haven’t I?” 

Soon she was ready to go. After speaking 
a few words with Lo-lo’s mother, she turned 
once more to the boy : “Now, Lo-Lo, since we 
are old friends, is there anything you would 
like to have me bring you to-morrow when 
I come, some foreign candy, a foreign toy, or 
perhaps a foreign picture book?” 

“No, there is nothing,” he said after a mo- 
ment’s thought. “Only if it’s not too much 
trouble, will you please tell me when your 
Christmas comes and about those strange trees 
you bring into the house to put gifts on?” 

“Gladly,” she answered. “You are surely 
not hard to please. I fear most foreign boys 
would have said, ‘Yes, please bring me some 
candy, toys, and books,’ if I had asked them 
what they wanted.” 

After a farewell smile and a light tap on his 
flushed cheek, she went away. 


IV 


FOREIGN MEDICINE 

“What! you say they sent a woman?” said 
Mr. Chang when he had heard about the doc- 
tor’s visit. 

“Yes, and the boy’s better already,” answered 
Grandmother Chang. “She hadn’t more than 
looked at him when he began to improve. 
Here is the medicine in these two cups of water. 
He takes one spoonful an hour from one cup 
and then a spoonful from the other.” 

“You don’t mean it! Is that all the medi- 
cine he has to eat ? Why, when I was a boy we 
ate medicine by the quart instead of the spoon- 
ful. I thought these foreigners would feed it 
to you by the gallon.” 

“Yes, and she says he has been eating too 
much. Pork and other meat is bad for him. 
People with fever mustn’t eat. Give him all 
the hot water he can drink, but no tea.” 

“Queer, queer! these foreign ways.” 

But Lo-lo didn’t worry about the medicine 
or because they would not give him any pork 
for his dinner. He thought only of the tall 
.25 


26 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


white lady with the strange light-coloured 
hair. 

‘‘What makes her hair so funny ?’^ he asked 
his mother. “It’s not black at all like yours, 
and it looks as if she had never combed it.” 

“Yes, that’s just it,” replied Mrs. Chang. 
“They say that these sea ladies never comb 
their hair and it grows lighter and lighter all 
the time. Some say that if they would comb 
it every day as we do and take good care of 
it, it would grow as glossy and black as ours. 
But they are all alike. Not one of them slicks 
down her hair. I have seen five and they are 
all alike, every one of them wear it all in a 
fluff.” 

But Lo-lo liked the lady doctor in spite of 
her light fluffy hair and her blue eyes, liked 
her because she had a soft, sweet voice and was 
so gentle when she spoke to him. He even 
thought it a lucky thing to be sick, for being 
sick had brought her to his side. 

“I surely am glad that ice broke,” he said 
to Ta-ta, “for if I hadn’t got wet I never 
should have seen the foreign lady.” 

“What’s she like?” questioned Ta-ta, 
breathless. 

“Oh, like that lovely lady in the temple, 
that we prayed to when the baby was sick. 
You remember, the one they call Kwanyin.” 


FOREIGN MEDICINE 


27 


“Yes, yes,’' said Ta-ta, “the one with a 
thousand hands. If it hadn’t been for her, 
mama says I wouldn’t have been born.” 

“Well, how is Lo-lo to-day?” 

He awoke with a start. It was the next 
morning. The lady doctor was sitting by his 
side, her hand on his forehead. 

“Ah, no fever this morning. That’s much 
better. You’ll soon be running round again. 
Now, what was that question you asked about 
Christmas?” 

“I asked when Christmas comes and what 
it’s for. Why do you have a tree, and what 
do you do with the things that are on it? 
What—” 

“Just wait a minute, Lo-lo; one question 
at a time, please. Christmas comes next Satur- 
day, just six days from to-day. We have a 
tree because we think it is pretty, and it is a 
good thing to hang our presents on. We put 
gifts on for all our friends, to show them that 
we love them. Christmas is the day of love. 
It is the birthday, you know, of the greatest 
and best man that ever lived, the man who 
loved everybody in the world. Here is a 
little song our children sing. It is printed in 
Chinese on this card. It tells you all about 
Christmas Day. You can get your father to 
read it to you.” 


28 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


Lo-lo picked up the card and began to read 
off the words very quickly. 

‘‘Good! you won’t need your father’s help. 
What a bright boy you are! It took me al- 
most a day to learn to read that song, and 
you read it right off in a jiffy. The music is 
like this.” 

She sang it to him, going over and over 
^the simple air until Lo-lo, without being 
asked, joined in and began to sing it with her. 
Next he sang it by himself, and she clapped 
her hands at hearing him. 

“I must be going now, Lo-lo. If you need 
me again be sure to send word. Here is a 
picture book for you to look at, and I think 
you’ll find some good stories in it, too.” 

She was gone. He heard his grandmother 
and his mother in the next room urging her 
to drink a cup of tea. Then they walked 
with her to the outer court. 

“I wonder what makes her so good to me,” 
he thought. “Are all foreigners like that? If 
they are, I wonder why Ta-ta’s mother calls 
them ‘sea devils.’ ” 

Soon he began to dream about the lady 
doctor, for his eyes had shut and he was 
asleep once more. 


V. 

LO-LO^S WISH 


When Lo-lo woke up, he reached for the 
new book. The first picture he came to made 
him scream with delight. It was of a real 
sure-enough Christmas tree, a foreign tree 
loaded with presents, and under it stood a 
group of merry children looking at their toys. 
All of the children seemed very happy. They 
were dressed in strange-looking clothes. A 
little brown dog was playing in one corner 
with a kitten. It was a pretty scene. Lo-lo 
gazed at it for a long time. “Look, grandma,” 
he said to the old lady. “Was your tree as 
pretty as this one?” 

“Just like it,” she said with a smile. “Do 
you really want to go and see a Christmas 
tree at the foreign children’s house, Lo-lo? 
Perhaps I can get your father to let you go.” 

“No, grandma, I don’t believe I want to.” 

“What! you don’t want to go? What has 
made you change your mind so suddenly?” 

“Because I want to have a tree all my own, 
a real Christmas tree, and have the other 
Chinese children come. That would be lots 
better than going to a tree.” 

29 


30 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


“Hear the boy ! A tree of your own ! That’s 
a foreign custom. What do we Chinese know 
about such things?” said his mother. “Next 
thing you’ll be wanting to go to a foreign 
school and study English.” 

“Perhaps I shall,” he answered. “Do you 
think papa will let me have the tree?” 

“I fear not,” said Grandma Chang. “Your 
father hasn’t much use for the white people 
except when he wants a doctor. Then he 
thinks they’re all right.” 

However, Lo-lo determined to ask him.. 

“A Christmas tree in this house! What a 
queer boy you are, Lo-lo!” his' father said. 
“I told you I would give you anything you 
wanted, because you had been sick, but I 
didn’t once think it ‘would be that kind of 
present. The foreign doctor must have been 
talking to you.” 

“Yes, she said Christmas would be next 
Saturday. If all the American children have 
Christmas trees, why can’t I? They’re no 
better than I am. You said so yourself. 
Please let me have a tree.” 

“Next thing you’ll be wanting to cut your 
cue and wear one of those stiff white bands 
around your neck.” 

“But you said I could have anything I 


LO-LO^S WISH 31 

wanted, and now you won't even give me a 
little cedar tree.” 

“Where would you get your tree?” 

“From the graveyard, of course. You said 
they were growing up too thick there and 
some of them would have to be cleared out 
anyhow.” 

“So I did, boy; you’re quite right, and I 
suppose if you insist I must let you have one 
of them. Why don’t you wait until Chinese 
New Year for your fun?” 

“That’s too far away. Mother said to- 
day that it’s more than a month, and be- 
sides a Christmas tree must come on Christ- 
mas, and Christmas comes next Saturday.” 

“Very well, then. Tell old Wu to send the 
coolie out for the tree. Mind you don’t take 
one of the big trees. That would cause no 
end of trouble, you know.” 

“Yes indeed,” said Grandmother Chang, 
“for every old tree has a fairy in it, and you 
must not do the fairies any harm.” 


VI 


MAKING PLANS 

The next day Lo-lo had forgotten all about 
his illness. He went to see Ta-ta, and the two 
■of them began to make plans for the Christ- 
mas tree. 

'‘Now, you see,” said Lo-lo, “they cut the 
tree, bring it into the house, and then put all 
the pretty things on it. All the children 
stand around it and look on.” 

“But what children shall you have?” asked 
Ta-ta. “I suppose you will have to do with- 
out.” 

“It wouldn’t be any fun to have a tree if 
we didn’t have children. Grandma says they 
always have children. That’s what it’s for 
mostly, to give the kiddies a good time. Now 
if we should go to all this trouble and just 
invite ourselves, it would be foolish. Of 
course there’s your little sister.” 

“Yes, she can come, but she’s only six and 
small for her age.” 

“That’s no matter. Now, about the others. 
Who shall they be? Why, of course, let’s 
ask old Wu’s boys, and the other servants 
have children. They will be glad to come.” 


32 


MAKING PLANS 


33 


“Shall we ask them now?” 

“Of course not. We’ll write out sure- 
enough letters asking them to come, just the 
way the grown folks do when they want you 
to come to a funeral or a wedding.” 

“Who’ll do the writing?” 

“I will, ’cause I’m the one who is going 
to give the tree, but you can help if you want 
to, and I’ll let you pass them round.” 

“Where did you learn to write invitations?” 
asked Ta-ta. 

“At school after we are through with the 
main lessons the teacher tells us how to write 
letters and do some other things. It’s not 
hard at all when you know how. Some of 
the boys have learned how to draw, too. They 
can make pictures of the sea, and pagodas, 
and all kinds of things.” 

“I wish I could go to school,” said Ta-ta, 
enviously. “Papa says there’s no use in my 
learning more than he learned. He didn’t go 
to school when he was a boy, and he doesn’t 
want me to get ahead of him. He says he 
wouldn’t have any face if his boy knew how 
to read when he doesn’t know anything except 
counting and money words.” 

“The Eleventh Moon, eighteenth day, will 
be Christmas. Your children are respectfully 


34 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


invited to shed light upon my Christmas tree. 
Lo-lo bows the head. No. 8 Pig Foot Lane.” 

“There, don’t you think that note will do 
for old Wu’s children?” said Lo-lo, with a 
last wave of the ink brush. 

He folded the sheet of red paper with great 
care. “That’s the way to ask to a wedding, 
and it ought to be good enough for a Christ- 
mas tree.” 

“Yes, indeed,” replied Ta-ta, warmly. “You 
do know lots, Lo-lo.” 

Soon Lo-lo had written three copies of his 
note, for other friends, and had read all of 
them aloud to Ta-ta. They were all alike, 
but that made no difference. He was proud 
of his letter-writing. 

“Now let’s give old Wu his note and tell 
him to take it home when he goes to-night.” 

“All right, let’s do.” 

So, hand in hand, they rushed round to 
the servants’ quarters, where they found old 
Wu getting a duck ready to be boiled. 

“Here is a note for you,” said Lo-lo grave- 
ly, holding out one of the red invitations. 

“A note for me?” repeated old Wu. “What 
have I been doing? Yes, this is my name,” 
looking it over carefully. “No mistake about 
it, and it has the place where I live, so I sup- 


MAKING PLANS 35 

pose it’s mine. But what is it for? I am 
afraid it’s some joke.” 

‘‘Read and see,” laughed Lo-lo. 

“My name, I know, and the place where I 
live, but more than that I can’t read, for I’m 
not a scholar. I’ll have to call Li-nan to read 
it for me. He has had no little schooling. 

Li-nan was the wash-man, and after he had 
looked at the sheet for a long time, twisting 
his face into a hundred wrinkles, he began to 
read it off. 

When he read the words, “Lo-lo bows the 
head,” the cook turned to the boys with a 
laugh. “Why, this letter is from you.” 

“Yes, from me, and I want you to let all 
your children come.” 

“Let them come, very well, but what is the 
meaning of Christmas tree? Is it a tree for 
them to climb, some new game that you will 
play ?” 

“Don’t ask too many questions,” said Lo-lo, 
“but come and see.” 




vcF y luxfiJt 




VII 


AT SCHOOL 

Next day Lo-lo went back to school. He 
had been absent several days because of his 
sore throat. He reached the building at half- 
past six, for the children started work at 
seven. 

Many other boys were on the school 
grounds. When they saw Lo-lo, all of them 
crowded around him, for they had heard of 
his sickness and about the coming of the 
foreign doctor. 

“Did she know how to talk?” asked one lit- 
tle fellow. “Could she speak real words like 
ours, or was it just those funny sounds that 
most of the foreigners make when they open 
their mouths?” 

This little boy had come to Lo-lo’s village 
from a seaport where there were many people 
from other lands. 

“She talked just as we do,” answered Lo-lo, 
“only sometimes her words had different 
sounds. One thing she said almost made me 
laugh.” 

“What was that ?” asked the boys in chorus. 

“When she meant to say, ‘Now, Lo-lo, you 

37 


38 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


have no more fever/ she really said, Xo-lo, 
you have no hot cakes/ ” 

All the boys laughed loudly at this and for 
some time they kept Lo-lo busy answering 
questions about the strange woman doctor 
with the white hair. 

‘'Did she have real teeth?” asked the lit- 
tie fellow from the seaport. 

At this question all the others laughed, for 
they thought it very silly. 

“Well, you needn’t laugh. My mother used 
to do sewing for a white lady in Chefoo, and 
one day she went into the lady’s bedroom while 
she was taking a nap. There on the shelf 
near the bed, what do you think she saw in 
a glass of water?” 

None of the boys could guess. 

“A set of teeth. When my mother talked 
to her she could hardly speak. It sounded as 
if she had a mouth full of millet. When she 
got up, she reached over and took the teeth 
out of the glass. They were all fastened to- 
gether on something that looked like a red 
bone. She took the whole handful of teeth 
and popped them into her mouth. Click ! they 
were there in place, just like real ones. When 
she talked next time, her voice didn’t sound 
queer any more. She told mother they were 
false teeth, and that a kind of doctor made 


AT SCHOOL 39 

them for her and fastened them on to the red 
bone.” 

“I guess all the foreigners have teeth that 
come out, then,” said one small boy who had 
listened with open mouth. “They all talk 
alike and eat the same kind of food.” 

“Perhaps they do,” said another, laughing. 

As it was a beautiful winter day, almost like 
spring time, and there were still a few min- 
utes before school, the boys began to play one 
of their favourite games. It was played with 
a small ball into which were stuck several 
duck’s feathers The ball was made of snake’s 
skin and was very hard. It was somewhat 
like the shuttle-cock used in the old English 
game. 

Each boy tried to see how long he could 
keep the ball in air by kicking it with the side 
of his foot. Some of them were very quick 
and showed great skill in knocking the 
feathered ball high above their heads. Some- 
times it flew the wrong way like a foul in base- 
ball and then there was much laughter. 

While they were playing in this way, Mr. 
Chu, the teacher, stood by, watching them. 
He was a very solemn man who never smiled. 
The boys were much afraid of him. He was 
not a good teacher, nor was he a good man. 
He wore large glasses which were twice the 


40 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


size of those that people wear in Western lands. 
The frames of these glasses were made of 
stone instead of silver, nickel, or gold. Mr. 
Chu was very near-sighted, but he did not 
want the boys to know that he was nearly 
blind, so he stood watching the game of shut- 
tlecock as if he could really enjoy the fun. 

All of a sudden one of the boys who had 
been keeping the ball up in the air tried to 
make a difficult play. He struck the ball with 
his heel by mistake, and it flew far to one side. 
Whack! it struck the teacher right upon the 
nose. Most of the boys were too much fright- 
ened to laugh, but one or two, Lo-lo among 
them, could not keep from letting out a titter. 

This made Mr. Chu very angry and, reach- 
ing out, he seized Lo-lo by the cue and pulled 
him into the schoolroom. 

“You rascal,” said he, “now you may go 
without your dinner, and if you miss one word 
of your lesson this morning I shall give you 
a beating.” 

This was too much for Lo-lo. He began 
to cry. He cried, not because of losing his 
dinner, but because the teacher had taken 
hold of him by the cue. All of the boys 
thought this very bad treatment. They dis- 
liked their teacher very much, for he was not 
by any means a gentleman. 


AT SCHOOL 


41 


After Lo-lo had dried his eyes he remem- 
bered what the master had said and began 
to study very hard. He was learning to re- 
peat the words, line after line, of a famous 
Chinese book. This book was for many years 
given to all Chinese children when they first 
began to study. It is called in Chinese by this 
funny name, “San Tzu Ching,’’ which means, 
“Three Word Classic.” 

Many other boys were studying this book, 
and instead of keeping as still as a mouse, each 
one was reading aloud or saying off in sing- 
song voice the words of this Chinese primer. 
It seemed as if each one was trying to shout 
out his lesson in a louder voice than any of 
the others. 

One by one they stood in front of the 
teacher, with their backs turned toward him, 
instead of their faces, and repeated their les- 
son. You see, the teacher was afraid, perhaps, 
that they would look on his book if they stood 
with their faces in his direction. It was nearly 
dinner time when it came Lo-lo’s turn to re- 
cite. The boys had not done well and the 
teacher was angry. 

“What is the matter with you to-day, little 
blockheads, that not one of you knows your 
lesson? Have you gone crazy? I shall have 


42 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 

to forbid your playing any games and make 
you come to school much earlier.” 

The boys were not afraid that the teacher 
would punish them in this way, for he was 
lazy and they knew he would not want to come 
to school any earlier in the morning. 

At last Lo-lo stood up to say his lines. 

^^Now, mind what I told you,” said the 
teacher, frowning. ‘T meant every word of 
it. If you make one mistake, you go without 
your dinner.” He had forgotten all about 
the beating. 

But Lo-lo did not make a mistake. In a high 
sing-song voice he went through every line, 
from the beginning to the end of the lesson, 
and said them so fast that the teacher gasped 
in wonder and looked up to see if the boy had 
a book hidden somewhere in front of him. 

When Lo-lo had finished, the teacher could 
not find one word of fault. 

‘Tlease, elder born,” said Lo-lo gravely, 
*T have said all the words of my lesson, but 
I don’t know the meaning of one of them.” 

“No matter,” said Mr. Chu, “no matter. 
The meaning will come soon enough.” 

So Lo-lo had to go home without knowing 
the meaning of his lesson, for this was before 
the time when good schools for children were 
started in China. On the way home from 


AT SCHOOL 


43 


school Lo-lo was the hero of the hour. Sev- 
eral of the boys walked with him, and at last 
he told some of them about his Christmas 
tree. Of course, all of them pricked up their 
ears when he was talking about this, for they 
had never heard of such a thing before. 

think all of us schoolboys will come,’' 
said one of them at last when Lo-lo had fin- 
ished telling about the gifts and had left them. 

“Better wait till you get your invitation,” 
said another. “Ta-ta told me that Lo-lo and 
he had been writing letters to all the friends 
they wanted to ask.” 

“Why is it that Lo-lo is always playing 
with that poor boy, Ta-ta? He doesn’t know 
a single word, and his people have nothing to 
eat but millet.” 

“Oh, don’t you know, they used to be play- 
mates when Lo-lo lived in the little mud house, 
and he has never forgotten Ta-ta. They were 
together that time when Lo-lo was lost in the 
wheat, and the old woman caught them and 
made them work for her.” 

“Yes, and now everything that Lo-lo does, 
he must ask Ta-ta to help him, and to be his 
chum.” 



In a high-pitched voice he went through to the end of the lesson 


VIII 


LO-LO EXCITED 

When Lo-lo reached home he told his 
mother and his grandmother about all the 
things that had happened during the morning. 

“I am afraid you were very rude, my boy, 
to laugh at the teacher.” 

“How could I help it, grandma, when the 
ball struck him right on the nose? He looked 
so funny, I think I should have laughed if it 
had been the Emperor himself.” 

“Yes, and then you would have had your 
head chopped off, and — ” 

“And I couldn’t have my Christmas tree,” 
broke in Lo-lo, finishing the sentence. “I 
don’t want my head cut off until after Christ- 
mas anyhow.” 

“Oh, that reminds me, your father said that 
he would let you stay away from school this 
afternoon. He thinks, if you are going to 
have a Christmas tree, you’d better have a 
good one. This afternoon you’ll have to take 
old Wu along with you to the city. There you 
can pick out your Christmas presents and bring 
them home to put on the tree.” 

45 


46 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


Lo-lo was so excited at thought of going 
to the city that he could hardly eat his dinner. 
It seemed to him as if he were the luckiest 
boy in the village. For among all his school 
friends he had not found one who knew any- 
thing about Christmas or whose father had 
promised him a Christmas tree. 

After dinner he rushed over to tell Ta-ta 
about the afternoon trip to the city and to 
make him promise to go also. What the 
schoolboys had said was true. He never liked 
to do anything without the help of his play- 
mate. If Ta-ta was happy, he was happy, 
and if Ta-ta cried, Lo-lo did also. 

When Lo-lo reached Ta-ta’s street he saw 
that a great crowd of people were standing 
out in the road in front of- the house. Ta-ta 
and his little sister were there, hand in hand. 

“What are you looking at?” asked Lo-lo. 
for he could see nothing but a great cloud of 
dust in the distance and thought that a cart 
was drawing near. 

“Camels,” shouted Ta-ta. 

“Where?” 

“Why, don’t you see yonder in the street?” 

Now, Lo-lo had never seen a camel, but 
he had often looked at the picture of one in 
his reader, and he had heard his father say 
that camels often passed their house in the 


LO-LO EXCITED 


47 


night. Once late at night when he was sick 
he had heard a tinkle of strange bells and his 
mother had told him that a herd of camels 
was passing the house. He had been too sick 
to get up and look, and besides he had heard 
so many stories about the camel drivers that 
he was afraid of them. 

At last the strange animals came by. There 
were twenty of them in all. 

‘Why are they traveling in the daytime?” 
said Ta-ta. “My father says that camels are 
not allowed to travel while it is light because 
they scare the mules and the donkeys.” 

“See how slowly they walk,” shouted Lo-lo. 
“There is one man for every seven of them.” 

“Yes, father says they go only two miles an 
hour, when they are taking trips across the 
desert, and most of them don’t carry more 
than one hundred and seventy pounds of goods 
if they are going on a long journey.” 

When the last camel had passed and the 
people had returned to their work, Lo-lo and 
Ta-ta were left alone. 

“I am going to the city,” said Lo-lo, “and 
you must go with me.” 

“What for?” 

“To buy presents for the tree. We can 
have lots of fun.” 


48 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


“But I haven’t any money,” replied Ta-ta 
wistfully. “I’d like to go, but there’s no use 
if I haven’t any money.” 

“Nonsense, Ta-ta! I don’t want you to buy 
anything. I’ve enough for both of us. Papa 
promised me ten thousand cash to spend for 
the tree, and we shall have a great time.” 

“Ten thousand cash! My! that’s almost as 
much as papa makes in a month when he is 
working.” 

“Come along and we’ll try to get through 
to-day.” 

“But, aren’t you going to school?” 

“No school for me. I had enough of it 
this morning for one day and father said I 
might stay at home.” 

“Aren’t you afraid to go into the city all 
alone?” 

“Old Wu will go with us to carry the basket. 
Hurry up and get ready. You can’t find any 
reason for not going; so come along.” 


IX 


THE NODDING TIGER 

As the two boys walked through the vil- 
lage with old Wu on their way to the city, 
they saw many things to interest them. Just 
outside the city gate was a large market where 
eggs and chickens were sold. On one side, as 
they passed by, they saw an old blind story- 
teller with a crowd of people around him. 
Sometimes the man would play on a strange 
looking kind of fiddle, and then when many 
people were ready and waiting he would tell 
them a fairy story of the long ago. 

They stopped a moment to hear what he was 
saying, and heard him tell a story about a 
wonderful tiger that had killed an old woman’s 
son. “Afterwards the tiger was arrested, and 
the judge asked him if he had killed a man. 
He nodded his head gravely, much to the sur- 
prise of all the people. 

“Then the judge told him he must take care 
of the old woman now that her son was gone, 
give her food and money, for she had no 
relatives to take care of her. 

“The tiger nodded his head, then left the 
49 


50 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


court room. The next morning the old woman 
found the body of a deer outside her door. 
Ever after that, as long as she lived, the tiger 
took care of her, and when she died he 
mourned at her grave, and had a big stone 
built there.” 

As the boys walked through the gate, they 
were so much interested in this tiger story 
that they almost forgot why they had come 
to the city. 

“Hey, boys, where are you going?” asked a 
well-known voice. It was Mr. Chang, Lo-lo’s 
father. 

“We have come to buy our presents,” said 
Lo-lo. 

“Ready, eh? Very well, come to my shop 
and ril give you the money I promised you.” 

The boys turned down a side street and fol- 
lowed Mr. Chang towards his dye-shop. Old 
Wu came on behind. 

The street was called “Bean Curd Lane,” 
and it was just like many other Chinese streets. 
Many long sign-boards were hanging in front 
of the shops. Lo-lo read out some of the 
names to Ta-ta: “The Golden Cow” — this 
was a place where they sold needles; “The 
Black Monkey” — a cap store; “The Mutton 
Shop of Morning Twilight” — a meat shop. 

Many of the places they passed were filled 


THE NODDING TIGER 


61 


with people eating. Men were standing in 
front rolling out dough into little cakes, fry- 
ing meat, or turning over pancakes that were 
sizzling over the fire. The air was full of 
smells that little American boys would think 
very queer. 

All the people who were eating at the tables 
inside seemed happy, and every one of them 
had just in front of him a cup of tea. 

Lo-lo and Ta-ta did not think any of these 
sights strange. They read the names of the 
shops without laughing and went past “Bean 
Curd Lane,” “Sheep Tail Lane,” “Donkey 
Lane” and “Trouser Lane,” without so much 
as a smile, on their way to Mr. Chang’s place 
of business. 

Although they did not think the sights 
strange, for they had seen them before, still 
they were happy at being in the city again, 
happy to see so many people, to hear so many 
loud noises, and to smell so many good things 
cooking in the eating-houses. 

Sometimes they had to wait a long while 
for two carts to pass each other where the 
road was narrow, or for a long line of wheel- 
barrows loaded with stone to get out of their 
way. 

Then, again, when there were too many 
men in his way, and Mr. Chang wished to 


52 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


get by quickly, he would call out, “Borrow 
light! borrow light!” and those who were in 
his path would step aside and let man, boys 
and servant pass on. 

This was not strange to Lo-lo either. He 
would never have thought of saying such a 
strange thing as, “Excuse me,” or, “Pardon 
me, if you please,” or anything else which a 
little English boy or an American might have 
said in a crowd. 


X 

TA-TA^S ACCIDENT 


After a while they reached Mr. Chang’s 
shop. It was a place for weaving and dyeing 
cloth. Out in front, hanging from a pole 
high up in the air were long strips of newly 
dyed cloth. These pieces had been put out 
to dry. 

The boys went inside. There were several 
small rooms. All of these were full of men 
and boys who were at work. When Mr. Chang 
entered, these men began working harder than 
ever. 

Lo-lo had seen them many times before, 
and was not so much interested in what they 
were doing as he would have been if it had 
been his first visit. 

Ta-ta had never been in a dye-shop. He 
went from room to room, poking his nose into 
every corner. 

At last Lo-lo heard a loud scream. He 
turned around just in time to catch hold of 
Ta-ta’s leg and save him from falling head 
over heels into a great tub of green dye which 
was standing at one side of the room. 

As it was, the boy’s hands were covered 
with the green stuff, and his face was badly 
53 


54 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


spattered. He was a funny-looking object, 
and Lo-lo burst into shouts of laughter. All 
the workmen also began to laugh, and Mr. 
Chang came out of a back room which he 
used as an office to see what was the trouble. 

After they had finished laughing at Ta-ta’s 
misfortune, a servant brought in a pan of 
water and some soap, but it was no use trying 
— the dye was on to stay, and he could not 
wash it off. 

“You see, Ta-ta, if you don’t want to be a 
green-handed boy, you’d better not play in 
my dye,” laughed Mr. Chang. “My dye is 
not the cheap colouring that comes off in the 
first rain. That stuff will stay on there till 
after the New Year.” 

“Yes, I can use Ta-ta to help decorate the 
Christmas tree,” said Lo-lo. “He’s lots prettier 
now than anything we can buy.” 

“Now,”’ said Mr. Chang, after they had gone 
into his office, “I believe I promised Lo-lo a 
thousand cash to help him buy things.” 

“A thousand cash!” shouted Lo-lo. “No, 
sir, it was tot thousand.” 

thousand! What? How do you ex- 
pect a poor man like me to give you all that 
money?” 

Mr. Chang always liked to speak of himself 
as a poor man. It had been only a short time 


TA-TA^S ACCIDENT 


55 


since he really was poor, and he liked to hear 
people say, ‘‘Oh no, Mr. Chang is a great 
man ; he is rolling in money.” He liked to re- 
peat the old Chinese saying, “Men honor the 
rich — even dogs bite those with ragged 
clothes.” 

After joking with his son a little longer, 
Mr. Chang sent a servant into the next room 
to bring the money. It was wrapped in a 
newspaper, ten rolls in all. Each piece of 
money was almost as large as a fifty-cent piece, 
and there were five hundred coins. Each coin 
was called a twenty-cash piece. It made a 
heavy load. Instead of having the boys carry 
it in pockets or purses, Mr. Chang told old 
Wu to put it into his basket and carry it to 
the shop where the boys would do their buy- 
ing. 

“Now be sure you stay with old Wu,” cau- 
tioned Mr. Chang, just as they were going. 
“Getting lost in the city would be worse for 
you youngsters than going astray in a wheat- 
field, and you know there are many old women 
that might like to steal you.” 

“I guess they would,” answered Lo-lo, “if 
they could steal our servant with us and get 
the money.” 

Turning out of Mr. Chang’s street, they 
went into “Blackbird Lane,” and soon reached 


56 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


the store where they expected to buy toys 
for children. Lo-lo had been there before and 
knew the shop-keeper very well. 

'‘What are you looking for to-day, my 
boy?” asked the clerk, smiling. “Your friend 
here must be one of your father’s workmen.” 
As he said this he pointed to Ta-ta’s green 
hands. 

“No, he just tried to wash his face in the 
dye,” said Lo-lo, “and we wouldn’t let him.” 

In the shop were many kinds of animals. 
Some of them were made of cloth, others of 
china. There were some tiny little fellows, 
so small that the boys had to hold them close 
to their eyes to see what they were. They 
were made of silk. 

“We’ll get one of these animals for every 
child,” said Lo-lo, after asking the price, “and 
when the Christmas tree is over, we can have 
an animal show.” 

There were many kinds of false faces 
which the boys thought very odd. They 
tried several of them on, and at last bought 
ten. 

Some Japanese blocks and games also drew 
their eyes, besides a host of toys which they 
had seen many times before. It was not long 
until old Wu’s basket was more than half 
full. 

“We must get some paper of different colors 


TA-TA^S ACCIDENT 57 

when we pass the bookstore on the way back,” 
said Lo-lo. 

“What will you do with paper?” said old 
Wu. 

“I’ll show you after we get home. Have 
no fear. And we must be sure not to for- 
get the fruit. Grandma says they give an 
orange to every child. I think persimmons 
will do just as well, and they are only twenty 
cash apiece.” 

They went to a fruit store and bought a 
number of big yellow persimmons. Each of 
these was at least ten inches around and 
weighed almost a pound. 

“I wish we didn’t have to wait till Christ- 
mas,” said Ta-ta. 

“All right, have one now. I’m going to eat 
one, too.” 

So they started home, each one eating a 
persimmon as he trudged along the crowded 
street. 

“We mustn’t forget to buy some ankle 
bands for the servants,” whispered Lo-lo, as 
they came near to the city gate. He did not 
want old Wu to hear him talking. He had 
taken some money from the basket before 
leaving the toy shop. 

At the gate he told Wu that Ta-ta and he 
were tired, and that they would come soon, 
that he need not wait for them. By this time 


58 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 

they knew the way home from the city gate 
and were not afraid to go by themselves. It 
was not a long distance. 

When old Wu had left them, they stopped 
in front of a street peddler who had many 
little things for sale. From this man they 
bought five long bands of cloth such as 
Chinese men and women use for tying their 
trousers at the ankles. 

When they were nearing Ta-ta’s house, 
Ta-ta’s little sister ran out to meet them. 

At sight of her brother’s green hands and 
the green spots on his face, she cried out, ‘‘Oh, 
brother eats so many cabbage leaves that he 
will soon turn into a cabbage.” 

“And then you can eat him, can’t you?” 
asked Lo-lo. “Now, Ta-ta,” he went on, “be 
sure to come over to my house to-morrow 
afternoon. I want you to go to the graveyard 
with me.” 

“Go to the graveyard? What are you go- 
ing to do there?” 

“Don’t ask too many questions. What 
grows in a graveyard? Christmas trees. 
Don’t you see, that’s where we’re going to 
get our tree.” 

“All right,” said Ta-ta, as Lo-lo walked 
away, “I’ll come. I like to go after green 
things, you know. I’ll be there, sure.” 


I 









••s'Vf 


The sun was just setting as they started home 







XI 

CUTTING THE TREE 


The next day Lo-lo could hardly recite 
his lessons, he was so impatient to start to 
the burying ground. Old Wu, another ser- 
vant, and the donkey were ready when Ta-ta 
came. 

The two boys were soon piled on the 
animal’s back, and the party was off for the 
graveyard. 

The Chang family burying ground was not 
far from the house. There were a number of 
tall trees growing in it, as well as some cedars. 
In the center of the lot was a large mound 
of earth shaped like a giant beehive. This 
was the grave of one of Lo-lo’s great great 
grandfathers. Around the hillock were many 
smaller mounds. The ground was covered 
with grass, brown and almost dead. Here 
and there in some sheltered spots were little 
patches of snow. There was no fence around 
the lot, and on all sides wheat had been planted. 

“Well, which tree will you have?” said old 
Wu. “Here are three small ones. You will 
have to choose.” 

Lo-lo looked at the trees carefully. At last 
he decided, for one of the trees was much 
more shapely than the others, and the color 
was a brighter green. 

6o 


61 


CUTTING THE TREE 

‘This one is just right,” he said. “Cut it 
down.” 

So the two men went to work with their 
axes, and at last the tree fell to the ground 
with a swish. 

The boys clapped their hands with delight 
and helped the servants tie it to the donkey’s 
back. The sun was just setting as they started 
home. 

“Jump on, Ta-ta,” shouted Lo-lo. “We’ll 
take turns riding.” 

It was an odd sight, and many men stopped 
to look back at them as they passed. 

It was dark when they reached home with the 
tree. This was just the way they had wished it 
to be. Now none of the boys in the neighbor- 
hood would see it. They bade the servants 
say nothing about their afternoon’s work to 
any one. 

They unloaded the donkey in an inner 
court in Lo-lo’s yard. The tree was left there 
until they should be ready to set it up. 

“Now, grandmother,” said Lo-lo that night, 
“I have everything ready, the tree and the 
presents. I have bought paper to decorate 
it with and fruit to put around the bottom or 
hang on with pieces of string. Now, I want 
you to tell me all about the other tree, the 
one you went to. What did the children do? 


62 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 

Who gave them the presents? Tell me all 
you know about it.” 

So Grandmother Chang sat for a long while 
talking to Lo-lo. Sometimes she had to stop 
and think, for it had been many, many years 
since her Christmas tree, but at last she al- 
ways thought of something more to tell. 

It was like a long fairy tale to Lo-lo, only 
this was every bit true. 

“Well,” said the boy when she had finished, 
“I think we can have everything that you had 
at your tree except those sure-enough blue- 
eyed foreign dolls with the white hair.” 

“No, you can’t buy such dolls in this city,” 
said grandma. “You’d have to give twice as 
much money as you have, so there’s no use 
worrying. There is one thing though about 
that tree I can’t remember. I have been 
puzzling my head all these days, but I can’t 
think what funny thing it was that happened.” 

“Why, mother, you don’t mean to say that 
you are losing your good memory?” said Mr. 
Chang, who had been listening to the story as 
the old woman told it to Lo-lo. 

“No, no, son. I’m not losing it, but it’s get- 
ting very thin around the edge.” 

“Now, remember,” said Lo-lo, “you must 
be sure to wear your best clothes when you 
come. They always do that on Christmas. 
Grandma says so, and so did the lady doctor.” 


CUTTING THE TREE 


63 


It was the next to the last day before Christ- 
mas, and he had called all the children to- 
gether to tell them about his plans. 

“But I haven’t any best clothes,” said one 
little fellow sadly. “These are all I have.” 

“Oh, well, don’t cry. I’ll lend you a suit. 
It wouldn’t do for 'you not to wear a best one 
on that day. All of you boys must meet in 
the front court and at nine o’clock march into 
the house. Ta-ta will be the captain. You 
will come to the door, and I’ll welcome you. 
When you get inside we must sing a Christmas 
song. I’ll teach it to you now and give you 
the words.” 

Lo-lo then handed to each of the children a 
copy of a Christmas song that the doctor had 
sent over. Then Lo-lo and Ta-ta sang the 
first line over and over until several of the 
others could carry the tune, and so on to the 
end. 

“Now, if you’ll all learn the words, you can 
try it once more on Christmas morning just 
before the time for marching in.” 

All the children were much excited and 
begged Lo-lo to tell them what he meant by a 
Christmas tree. Not one of them had ever 
heard of such a thing before. 

But the two friends kept the secret care- 
fully. 


XII 


SETTING UP THE TREE 

The next morning very early Lo-lo begged 
old Wu and the coolie to help him set the tree 
in place. 

“Why not let it lean against the wall in the 
corner of the large room?” suggested the 
cook. 

“Lean against the wall! well, I think not,” 
answered Lo-lo. “You don’t know what it’s 
for, do you?” 

“Why not against the wall? That’s as 
good as any place for it don’t you think?” 

“No, it must stand up just as straight as 
it did in the graveyard before you cut it 
down.” 

“There’s no way to fix it straight,” said 
the coolie, shading his head. “The trunk’s 
too small for it to stand on. It will be sure 
to topple over. I’ll tell you what. Suppose 
two of us stand here and hold it. How would 
that do?” 

“It wouldn’t do at all. It must stand up 
by itself and be strong too.” 

“It’s too tall to stand up in the room with- 
64 


SETTING UP THE TREE 


65 


out touching the ceiling/’ said old Wu at last. 
“But, of course, the trunk is very long. It 
could be sawed off a little.” 

“You crazy men!” said grandma, who had 
heard them talking. “Do you have to let an 
old woman tell you how to manage things? 
Come inside. Bring the tree with you, but 
don’t you cut an inch off the trunk. I’ll show 
you how to set it up on end, and the top won’t 
touch the ceiling either.” 

“Hurrah!” cried Lo-lo, “Grandma always 
knows.” 

They carried the tree into the guest-room. 

“Now bring it over here next to the brick 
bed,” said Grandma Chang. “Careful ! Don’t 
break the branches. It’s a pretty tree, but we 
mustn’t spoil it before Christmas.” 

Just in front of the bed was a deep hole in 
the floor, in which a fire was built to keep the 
bed warm when a guest was sleeping there. 

“Stand the tree in that hole,” said grandma, 
“and then fill the hole around it with pieces of 
wood or bricks.” 

“Hurrah!” shouted Lo-lo, “just the thing, 
granny. And it’s just as you say, the top 
won’t touch the ceiling.” 

Soon the pretty tree was standing up again 
as it had in the grove. Old Wu and the cook 
wedged it in firmly, so that Lo-lo thought he 


66 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


could climb into the branches without upset- 
ting it. 

“Now,” said Grandma Chang, ^ “it will be 
all ready for you to decorate after school this 
afternoon. Ta-ta can help you, and, of course, 
if you want any advice from the old folk, I 
will tell you all I can.” 

“You’re the best grandma in the whole 
world,” shouted Lo-lo. “I can hardly wait for 
the time to come.” 

“I’m afraid you’ll miss all your lessons to- 
day” said his mother. 

“But it’s the first Christmas the boy’s ever 
had,” answered the old woman, “so it doesn’t 
matter much if he does.” 

But Lo-lo’s mother was right. When he 
came to recite his lesson, his head was all 
in a whirl. Some of the words which he 
had known perfectly seemed to slip out of 
his memory. When he came to the place 
where it says, “That boys should not learn, 
is an improper thing, for if they do not learn 
in youth what would they do when old,” he 
rattled off, without thinking, “That boys 
should learn is an improper thing, for if they 
learn in youth what will they do when old.” 

“Enough,” said the teacher crossly. “You 
have no brains. I’ll have to make you start 
all over again.” 


SETTING UP THE TREE 


67 


But Lo“lo was too happy to worry about 
the teacher’s anger. He held his school book 
before him, and called out in a loud voice the 
words as he saw them. He was not thinking 
of school or the three-word book, but only of 
the afternoon’s fun with Ta-ta, of the morrow 
when all his friends were coming to the tree. 

There would be no school for Lo-lo to- 
morrow or for the others whom he had in- 
vited. A letter had been sent to the teacher 
asking that they be excused. As these children 
had no holiday on Saturday, such as children 
in other lands have, the Christmas holiday 
would be a great treat. 

^‘Now, be sure not to be too late,” said Lo-lo 
after school was over, to those who were in- 
vited, “and try to learn all the words of your 
song.” 


XIII 


CHRISTMAS EVE 

When Lo-lo reached home, on Christmas 
Eve, he found that his father had sent up a 
large basket full of things for the tree. There 
were big butterflies, moths, snails and all sorts 
of animals cut out of various kinds of paper. 
While he was’ looking at these things a basket 
was brought in, which turned out to be full 
of fruit sent ‘‘To Lo-lo, for his Christmas tree, 
from the foreign doctor. A Merry Christ- 
mas!” 

“Isn’t my doctor good to me?” he asked his 
grandmother, after he had read the Christmas 
greeting. “Let’s put the butterflies and paper 
things on first. They’ll make the tree look so 
bright and pretty.” 

“Now take this cotton,” said Grandma 
Chang, “and throw little pieces of it on the 
branches.” 

She had one of Lo-lo’s last winter’s coats 
in her hands. She had ripped it open and 
taken all the cotton wadding out. 

“All right. Here goes,” and Lo-lo threw 
some of the cotton up into the tiptop of the 
tree. It stuck to the branches and the boys 
68 


CHRISTMAS EVE 69 

clapped their hands. Soon they had put it in 
many places. 

Then they began to tie the presents on. 
They used string which had been woven out 
of a tough kind of grass by a man in their own 
village. 

Supper-time came but that made no differ- 
ence, for Ta-ta was going to stay all night. 

They were too much excited to eat, and 
soon had left the table and were standing un- 
der the tree again. 

'Tt’s more fun than flying kites,” said Ta-ta. 

^‘Don’t forget the presents for mama and 
papa,” said Lo-lo, ^‘and grandma. Then here 
is something papa has bought for your father 
and mother. You can take it to them after we 
have had the children.” 

Soon the tree was loaded down with gifts. 
There were Chinese dolls for the little girls, 
lovely flowers made of silk and satin, and 
many other things, while the presents for the 
boys were so many that Lo-lo could not count 
them. 

Behind the tree they piled persimmons and 
oranges. It was a pretty sight, this first Christ- 
mas tree that had ever been seen in the vil- 
lage, and the first one managed entirely by 
Chinese, perhaps, in the entire province. 

They were wild with delight at sight of it, 


0 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


and when it was bedtime Lo-lo’s mother had 
to call him three times, for he would gladly 
have staid up all night to look at the beauti- 
ful Christmas tree. 

When the children were in bed, the old folk 
came into the room, for they had caught the 
Christmas fever too. Soon bright red paper 
was pasted over the windows so that not a 
ray of outside light could get in. A large 
yellow Chinese flag with a big dragon on it 
was pinned up on the wall, while several large 
screens and some giant kites shaped like great 
birds and animals were stood up in various 
places. 

Many Chinese lanterns of paper and glass 
were hung from the ceiling ready to be lighted 
in the morning. 

“Let’s go out now and bar the door. We 
won’t let Lo-lo and Ta-ta in till all the other 
children have come,” said Mr. Chang. 

“There’s only one thing lacking,” said 
grandma, looking at the beautiful sight. 

“What’s that, mother?” said Mr. Chang. 
“If it’s not too hard to find, maybe we can get 
it yet.” 

“That’s just the trouble,” she answered. “It 
is too hard to find. It’s the part I can’t re- 
member about that first tree.” 



“ Listen Little ones, I am Santa Claus'" 



XIV 


CHRISTMAS MORNING 

Morning came and a beautiful day it was. 
Lo-lo jumped out of bed with a whoop. '‘Wake 
up, Ta-ta. It’s Christmas Day. Wake up! 
Wake up!” 

"Come on, let’s have a look at the tree,” 
said Ta-ta, after they were dressed and ready 
for breakfast. 

But the door would not open. 

‘T don’t believe we shall either,” said Lo-lo, 
laughing. “They’ve locked the door to keep 
us out. We can climb up outside and peep 
through the window.” 

They went outside the guest-room and 
climbed up on an old bench. The windows 
were made of paper instead of glass, and* 
Lo-lo expected to look in through a hole which 
had been torn in the paper pane. 

“Why, the holes are all covered up,” he 
cried, “with red paper, and I don’t dare to 
punch another. It might make father angry.” 

Soon the whole family was stirring and a 
little later breakfast was finished. 


72 


CHRISTMAS MORNING 


73 


“If I weren’t so busy I should like to stay 
for your tree,” said Mr. Chang, “but business 
is business, and I suppose I must go.” 

Tears came into Lo-lo’s eyes, but he said 
nothing. He had hoped that his father would 
remain at home that morning instead of going 
off as usual to the dye-shop. 

“Too bad you can’t stay,” said Grandma 
Chang. “It would please the children so much.” 

“Yes, it is too bad,” he answered, “but I 
know they’ll have a good time, anyhow.” 

Just then children’s voices were heard out- 
side, a barking of dogs, and an opening and 
shutting of the gate. 

“They’ve come,” shouted Lo-lo, and the 
two children rushed out to meet the others. 

“Oh, I forgot,” said Lo-lo, “they’re going 
to march in and I must meet them at the door, 
for I’m the host to-day.” 

“Christmas Day has come again. 

Come again, come again. 

Come across the deep blue sea, 

Come to you and come to me. 

Drive all pain and care away. 

Shout it out — ’tis Christmas Day. 

“Christmas Day has come again. 

Come again, come again. 


74 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


Day of all the very best, 

Day of joy and day of rest. 

Christ on the first Christmas morn 
Into this old world was born.” 

Lo-lo met all the children at the door, and 
as they entered the house he fell in line with 
Ta-ta and joined in the song. It rang out 
very loudly on the morning air. As the last 
sound died away, the door into the Christmas 
room flew open and they rushed in. 

Lo-lo had expected to sing the chorus again, 
but the words stuck in his throat. All the 
children gasped with surprise. The room was 
ablaze with light, and the tree was the most 
beautiful sight they had ever seen. 

They ran around it in wonder, looking first 
at one thing and then another. 

“It must be a dream,” said one little girl, 
“and we’re walking in the big palace garden at 
Peking.” 

“No dream about this,” laughed a boy, 
“That’s a real tree, and I know this is Lo-lo’s 
house, for I’ve been here before.” 

“My! aren’t those whopping big kites?” 
said Lo-lo. “Where did they come from? If 
this is my house, I didn’t know they were here.” 

“Nor I either,” said Ta-ta. 

While the children were staring in delight 


CHRISTMAS MORNING 


75 

at the beautiful room, the servants came and 
stood by the door. They were as much pleased 
as the children. 

Grandmother Chang and her daughter-in- 
law were sitting in one corner looking on. 
They had never been happier. 

Suddenly they heard some one shouting out 
in a high squeaky voice, '‘Well, children, are 
you glad to see me?” 

From behind the great Chinese flag on the 
wall stepped out a strange figure. It was a 
man dressed in long flowing garments. On 
his head he wore a black cap. His long beard 
was almost as white as the snow outside the 
door. His cheeks were as red as fire. 

As he walked out some of the children were 
badly frightened and began to cry. 

“Listen, little ones. Don’t cry,” said the 
stranger. “I am Santa Claus. For many years 
I have been coming every winter to see the 
little foreign children. This year for the first 
time I found out that you had never heard my 
name. Now, I love children very much and 
like to have them love me. I live far away in 
the South, but every year I come on Christmas 
Day to see that all my young friends have a 
good time. 

“Now, if you children would like to have 
me come back and pay you another visit, you 


76 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


must be good boys and girls, you must study 
hard your ‘San Tzu Ching’, and above all, try 
not to forget that Christmas means the day of 
love. Be sure not to forget my name. It is 
Santa Claus. 

“I am sure you would like to see now what 
Lo-lo, Ta-ta, and Santa have put on this tree 
for you. First of all, here is a gift from Santa 
to Lo-lo, because he has been so thoughtful 
and has tried to make all his friends have a 
good time.” 

Santa Claus then handed down to Lo-lo 
from the tree a case with a beautiful little sil- 
ver watch inside, the very kind the boy had 
been wanting for a long time. On the outside 
was carved his name. 

Lo-lo got down on his knees and touched 
the floor with his head. All of the others fol- 
lowed his example, for Chinese children are 
very polite, and they wished to show Santa 
that they honored and loved him. 

Then the children crowded round Lo-lo to 
look at his gift, and cried out with delight 
when they saw what a beauty it was. 

Santa now began to call out their names in 
order, and each child stepped up to receive a 
present. It would have made you laugh to see 
how low they bowed as they thanked him for 
his kindness. Some were afraid and hung back 


CHRISTMAS MORNING 77 

for a minute, but soon all saw that he was truly 
the children’s friend and trusted him. 

After all the toys, the sweetmeats, and the 
fruits had been passed round to the children, 
the parents were remembered and all the ser- 
vants. Ta-ta received a fur cap for his father 
and a warm wadded garment for his mother, 
besides his own presents. 

Never in that village had children been so 
happy. 



■^mssaa, 






iniisiiunuiiiai 


The good-bye 








XV 


THE SILVER WATCH 

While the children were busy looking at 
their gifts, old Santa slipped out of the door 
and rushed into Mr. Chang’s bedroom. He 
pulled off his white beard, his cap, and some of 
his outer garments. 

'‘Why, it’s my son !” cried old Grandmother 
Chang. “It’s my son dressed up like Santa 
Claus.” 

“What! mother, didn’t you recognize me? 
I like to have a good time once in a while. Do 
you think everything passed off well ?” 

“It surely did. There was nothing lacking.” 

“But I thought you said there was some- 
thing that you had forgotten about, something 
they had at the Christmas tree when you were 
a little girl.” 

“Oh, but that was Santa Claus,” she an- 
swered. “I knew there was something, but I 
had forgotten what it was. When I saw you 
standing there dressed in those clothes and 
wearing that beard, it all came back to me just 
as if I had been changed to a little girl again. 
You looked just the way Santa did fifty years 
•79 


80 A CHINESE CHRISTMAS TREE 


ago except that it seems to me he was a 
foreigner. How in the world did you find out 
about him and where did you get those foreign 
clothes ?” 

“Oh, I know several of those Americans,” 
he answered, “and they told me all about their 
customs. I borrowed the beard and the gar- 
ments from a shop.” 

“Ah, you like the foreigners better than you 
used to,” she said laughing. 

“Yes, they are not so bad as I thought. T 
sent them a big basket of fruit this morning 
and some Chinese toys for their children.” 

“Oh, father’s back,” shouted Lo-lo. “Just 
see what a beautiful gift Santa Claus brought 
me!” 

“A silver watch, eh?” said Mr. Chang, smi- 
ling. “Now, you’ll have no excuse for being 
late to school.” 


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